The crown pets: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth loves dogs so much that Daniel Craig’s James Bond even met three of her royal corgis in the London Olympics Opening Ceremony video
Her first dog was a gift from her father King George VI, and her pets had their own room at Buckingham Palace – the queen has also owned spaniels, corgis and dorgis, and raced horses most of her life
Over the years, whenever the queen was pictured at home or at one of her estates, she was usually surrounded by corgis and dorgis. She has been an avid pet-owner since she was young, when her father King George VI gifted her a corgi in 1933, which she named Dookie. Then her mother gave her a corgi named Susan for her 18th birthday in 1944. All the corgis raised at the palace since then have been descendants of Susan.
The last of Susan’s descendants, 14th-generation Willow, died at age 15 in 2018, leaving the queen with just her dorgis.
The queen has owned more than 30 corgis in all during her reign, but it was reported in 2015 that she had stopped breeding them because besides being a tripping hazard, she does not want to leave any behind after her death.
For corgi fans, Willow was one of the corgis that greeted “James Bond” Daniel Craig in his sketch with the queen for the opening of the London Olympics. Willow, along with Monty and Holly ran down the stairs, performed tummy rolls and stood by the helicopter as it took off for the stadium in London.
